Fly swatter



Dec. 13, 1960 M. E. DE MILLER FLY SWATTER Filed Sept. 10, 1959 INVENTOR MALCOLM E. DEMILLER 7;

FLY SWATTER Malcolm E. De Miller, Clinton, Iowa, assignor to Lubbers & Bell Mfg. Co.

Filed Sept. 10, 1959, Ser. No. 839,120

9 Claims. (Cl. 433-437) This invention relates to a fly swatter and particularly tothe manner of interconnecting the head of a fly swatter with a handle.

In conventional devices of this general type, a molded head of plastic material is assembled on a wire handle in such a Way that in use, the head often becomes separated from the handle. Whereas the use of a snap fit has been proposed in the patent to Roop, 2,736,129, dated February 28, 1956, between a molded head and a molded handle, prior to the present invention, no feasible arrangement has been proposed for securing a molded head to a Wire handle in a practical and inexpensive manner.

Accordingly, it is among the objects of the present invention to provide a fly swatter comprising a molded blade or head member of flexible resilient plastic material providing a handle receiving socket closed along opposed sides and at one end and open at another end, the socket including relatively large channel portions adjacent the closed sides and end and a contracted portion intermediate the ciosed sides and end. A handle is provided with an end disposed in the channel portions and the handle preferably has a thickness exceeding the contracted portion of the blade. The handle is preferably composed of wire of circular cross section whose diameter exceeds the minimum dimension of the contracted portion of the blade. The socket preferably has a substantially hour glass cross section as viewed from the open end and the channel portions are preferably of uniform substantially C-shaped cross section. The handle preferably provides a bifurcated end having a pair of spaced hook portions extending towards one another for reception in the channel portion adjacent the closed end.

The socket is preferably disposed in slightly offset relationship with respect to the blade so that the plane of symmetry of the socket passing through all of the channel portions will be spaced from the parallel plane of symmetry of the remaining portions of the blade.

A more complete understanding of the invention will follow from a description of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a fly swatter conforming to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation on an enlarged scale depicting the portions of the blade and handle which define the joint between them;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along line 3-3 ofFig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken along line 55 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation depicting a portion of the handle.

A molded blade member 10 composed of a relatively soft, flexible, resilient plastic material, such as polyethylnited States Patent C 2,963,816 Patented Dec. 13, 1960 ene or Vinylite, is provided with a socket 12 for the reception of an end of a handle 14, formed from wire of circular cross section, terminating in a pair of hooked portions 16 extending towards one another in spaced relationship from a pair of parallel legs 18. This bifurcated end of the handle defined by the legs 18 and hook portions 16 lies within the channel portions 20 adjacent the closed sides 22 of the socket and in the channel portion 24 adjacent to the closed end 26 of the socket. Intermediate the channel portions 20 and 24, the socket is contracted and bounded by opposed walls 28 and 30, between which the spacing is less than the diameter of the wire constituting the handle 14 so that when the bifurcated end of the handle is inserted in the socket, as soon as the hook portions :16 move into the channel portions 24, a locking action will be effected due to the natural resiliency of the material constituting the blade so that the blade and handle will not be separated in normal usage of the device.

As will be clear from Fig. 4, the socket 12 is even further reduced at the junction of the channel portion 24 and the contracted portion lying between the walls 28 and 30, by the provision of opposed projections 36. These projections require the socket to become distended appreciably as the handle is inserted so that a definite snap locking action is produced when the hooked portions 16 move beyond the projections into the channel portion 24.

As will appear from Fig. 3, the channel portions 20 are substantially C-shaped in cross section, and the socket as an entirety has a cross section of substantially hour glass configuration as viewed in this figure.

In forming the blade member, it is advantageous to have the socket 14 disposed in offset relationship with respect to the blade member so that a plane of symmetry 32 of the socket intersecting all of the channel portions is spaced from a parallel plane of symmetry 34 of the remaining portions of the blade member.

Although only one specific form of construction has been depicted and described, the invention should not be limited thereto beyond the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a molded blade member of flexible resilient plastic material providing a handle receiving socket closed along opposed sides and at one end and open at another end, said socket including relatively large channel portions adjacent said closed sides and closed end and a contracted portion intermediate said closed sides and closed end.

2. An article of manufacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein a handle having a thickness exceeding said contracted portion is received in said channel.

3. An article of manufacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein a handle composed of wire of circular cross section is received in said channel, the diameter of said cross section exceeding the minimum dimension of said contracted portion.

4. An article of manufacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein said socket has a substantially hour glass cross section at said open end.

5. An article of manumacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein said channel portions are of uniform substantially C-shaped cross section.

6. An article of manufacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein a handle received in said channel has a bifurcated end providing a pair of spaced hook portions extending towards one another.

7. An article of manufacture as set forth in claim 1 wherein a handle is provided with an end disposed in said channel portions.

8. An article of manufacture as set forth in claim 1,

said contracted portion and one of said channel portions. 1"

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gomber Nov. 23, 1915 Henry Sept. 2, 1919 Monroe et July 17, 1934 Creary Apr. 30, 1940 s nly. 

